


A Trade

by MostPreciousTreasures



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Missing Scene, Older Man/Younger Woman, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26986162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MostPreciousTreasures/pseuds/MostPreciousTreasures
Summary: She glanced at her brother. They were running out of time and she needed to determine what other options they had. She cleared her throat. “Sigtryggr.”He popped another dried fruit into his mouth as he looked up at her. “Yes, Lady?”Edward stared at her, his face contorted halfway between a grimace and confusion. “What -”“Do you have a wife?”Sigtryggr grinned in a way that was almost bashful. “I do not.”
Relationships: Sigtryggr Ivarsson/Stiorra
Comments: 11
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What was said in the Reading Room after Uhtred left?

“I will leave you to trade between yourselves. I’ll find my daughter.”

Æthelflæd blinked at Uhtred’s words as he left the room. She had forgotten that Sigtryggr held Stiorra as a captive in addition to her family.

She glanced at her brother. They were running out of time and she needed to determine what other options they had. She cleared her throat. “Sigtryggr.”

He popped another dried fruit into his mouth as he looked up at her. “Yes, Lady?”

Edward stared at her, his face contorted halfway between a grimace and confusion. “What -”

“Do you have a wife?”

Sigtryggr grinned in a way that was almost bashful. “I do not.”

“Do you have plans to marry?”

“I am flattered by your interest, Lady,” Sigtryggr teased, “But I do not have plans to marry, no.”

Edward rolled his eyes. “I do not think he believes in attachment, sister. He said as much when he threatened the life of my _sons_!”

Sigtryggr came around the table. “You misunderstand me. I said my lack of a wife and children makes me stronger than you - which is true. But I never said I did not value love. That I did not believe in the value of weakness.”

Æthelflæd was somewhat awed by the man. He joked and flirted in one moment, then was open and earnest in the next. He was a young, strong man but seemed to bear the wisdom of a much older one. Could they take him at his word that all he wanted was Eoforwic and nothing more?

“Then what if we offered you East Anglia along with an advantageous marriage? Someone from a powerful family in that area - someone with whom you could set down roots for generations.”

Sigtryggr’s eyes crinkled. “It is Eoforwic or nothing.”

“This is hopeless,” Edward grit out, “We will never get anywhere with him.”

Æthelflæd exhaled in a sigh. Her brother was right and there was nothing to be done. “Alright,” she said wearily.

Sigtryggr beamed warmly at them. “Thank you, Lady.”

Edward straightened and eyed Sigtryggr with an icy gaze. “What will you offer us in return?”

Sigtryggr leant back casually against the table. “I promise not to take Wessex or East Anglia.”

Edward frowned. "No - you will promise not to take _or_ enter the other kingdoms."

"Alright. I promise not to enter. Apart from trade, of course."

"You will not enter _at all_!"

There was an impishness to Sigtryggr's dimpled smiled that told Æthelflæd he was choosing his words in a particular way in order to rile her brother. "Yes," he agreed easily, "I will not enter Wessex or East Anglia at all."

“And Mercia,” Æthelflæd interjected.

He nodded leisurely as he picked up another handful of nuts and fruit. “And Mercia.”

“It is settled then,” Edward said.

The siblings turned to leave, feeling defeated but grateful for the relative lack of bloodshed. 

“There is one more thing that I want.”

They looked at each other and turned back to Sigtryggr, wary of what new request he wished to make.

“I would like to take the Dane girl with me. Uhtred’s daughter.”

Æthelflæd bristled instantly. “You wish to take Stiorra?”

“You refuse an offer to marry into a respected family for the daughter of a man banished from his ancestral lands?,” Edward said, his voice rising with spite and frustration.

Sigtryggr’s eyes glinted, catlike, as he tilted his head towards the King. “I like her.”

Edward gave a dry laugh. “You can have any whore in Winchester, yet you demand her as part of a land bargain because you _like_ her.”

“Edward -”

“No Æthelflæd - he is toying with us. We may agree to Eoforwic now, but what is stopping him from asking for more later? It begins with this and eventually he’ll have talked his way into controlling all four kingdoms! This is a game to him.”

Sigtryggr moved closer to them, his eyes wide and hands open. “No game. I want Eoforwic. I want Stiorra. Agree to both and I am gone.”

Edward sneered at him. “Do all your plans rest on you being able to hump a skinny little girl?”

Sigtryggr’s jaw twitched slightly before he curved a small smile at Edward. “You do not think much of women, Lord King.”

The two men stared at each other and Æthelflæd began to wonder if she should find Uhtred. Edward was heartier than their father had been, but he was no great warrior.

Sigtryggr assessed the King. “Women can be quite useful. And cunning. Take your sister for example,” he nodded at Æthelflæd, “She is a strong woman, intelligent. Stiorra is too. And she is both Saxon and Dane. I think she could be as useful to me as her father was to King Alfred. Do you not agree?”

Edward blinked back at him, briefly stunned into silence by Sigtryggr’s invocation of his father. “Have her then,” he said finally before sweeping out of the room, the door banging closed behind him.

Sigtryggr smirked at Edward’s retreating back before turning to the table to retrieve his wine goblet. Æthelflæd approached him then, mustering all the courage she possessed.

“If you hurt her in any way, I swear I will bring down the power of all your gods, the Christian God, and every able-bodied man in Wessex and Mercia to tear you apart.”

Sigtryggr turned to her with a look of mild wonder, as if he was surprised that she was still there. He met her eyes over the rim of his goblet as he took a sip, then gently placed it back on the table. “I do not doubt your words. But it will not come to that.”

“How am I to believe you? Have you told Stiorra of your plan?”

Sigtryggr hummed in agreement. “It was her that gave me the idea. I have talked to her every day for thirty-one days. I know much about her. I know how much she wants to leave - how much she wishes to be around my people and culture.”

Æthelflæd nodded reluctantly. “If that is so, I will not stand in your way. Her father is a different story.”

Sigtryggr smiled. “I know this - but I hope he will trust my intentions are honorable.”

“Are they?”

Sigtryggr broke her eye contact for the first time and looked away, when he looked back his eyes were softer than she had seen them yet. For a moment, he seemed more boyish and shy than his current circumstances allowed him.

“I know she is not a child. I do desire her. But I will wait for her to decide what she wants.”

Æthelflæd felt a wave of relief sweep through her. “Good.” She turned away to leave.

"Lady?"

Æthelflæd paused at the door. "Yes?"

“Stiorra has many people who love and protect her. I promise that will not change in Eoforwic.”

Æthelflæd willed her tears away. She had known Stiorra since she was a child and the girl had practically grown up at her estate. She knew that Stiorra would always mourn Gisela, but Æthelflæd couldn’t help but feel that Stiorra was her daughter as well.

“Thank you, Sigtryggr.”


	2. Requests?

Does anyone have any requests for Sigtryggr/Stiorra scenes they'd like to read? I'm working on a multi-chapter fic about them settling into life at Eoforwic, but there aren't a lot of fics about them in general and I'd love to do some more one shots. Let me know what you'd be interested in reading - on the road adventures, Reading Room stuff, missing scenes, whatever! ❤️⚔️🛡️

**Author's Note:**

> Just finished watching all of The Last Kingdom and really liked the possibility of a relationship between Stiorra and Sigtryggr. Wanted to do this short one shot to warm up for a longer fic about the pair.


End file.
